laceys lane said...whats the best all round sub 9 foot surf sup
- stability and all round surfing prowess.
Hey Lacey, no such thing IMO, different boards suit different styles of riders. Here's my very personal take. Have tried/owned the following: Ripper 9'3", Ripper 8'9", Laguna custom 8'8", DC customs (both Cassos) 8'8"s, Coreban 9'0", DTM Sups: 8'8" x 2, 8'7", Naish 8'10, Naish 8'4".
I am a fussy bastard and like boards that turn in a nice arc without relying on pivoting off the tail. I also want heaps of drive and easy rail to rail. With the exception of the Naishs (particularly the 8'4" which I quite liked) I find the OS boards tend to want to turn in a bigger arc and need to be pivoted off the tail to do tight turns. Now this probably suits a lot of people and is no doubt the reason they design em that way. They also probably have a bit more 'glide' which doesn't interest me at all as to me, Sups paddle so well compared to anything else it is irrelevant.
The Laguna turns in a lovely arc but was always too wide in the tail for mine, which makes it harder initiate rail carves - that said it would be my second choice after the DTM. Now I couldn't give a stuff if this sounds like a plug as I pay for my boards anyways but the DTM with it's pulled in low volume tail and rails and even rocker, turns in a nice tight arc that is very easy to initiate. It also holds it speed through turns and I can go from rail to rail very easily.
It is very under bouyant and as such is sometimes tricky to paddle which doen't bother me - still 50 times quicker that a shorty
To answer your question, IMO it depends how you like to surf and how much you don't mind a bit of a struggle paddling out. Also the type of surf you ride, although I find this latest board goes in anything - even super fat point break waves. I reckon to get true high performance (ie tight turns in the pocket) you need the right combo of rocker, rails and volume that won't necessarily make it user friendly for everyone.